The impact of global sustainability trends on the Automotive sector and Motorsport’s role in supporting the industry’s adaptation to these pressures by Joey Powis

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reducing innovations born out of such regulations could then be transferred for

wider use within the automotive industry.

5.2 Climate change

Automotive Challenge 3:

Accelerated exploitation of sustainable fuels

Motorsport has already begun to pioneer racing with alternative power sources.

Formula E, the world’s first all-electric racing series, is gaining significant

support. Renault, Audi, Citroen and Jaguar all field teams in the current

championship year, with both BMW

and Mercedes

eyeing up future

involvement. GT racing has also more recently seen a move towards electric

with the proposed emission-free Electric GT Championship planned for 2017 in

association with Tesla. However, there is significantly more that could be one to

encourage adoption of alternative fuels throughout more traditional categories

and championships.

Motorsport Opportunities:

There is an opportunity to enforce adoption of

alternative fuels in motorsport in both the short and medium term:

Short-term:

Create ‘zero emissions’ classes in multi-class categories such

as established GT and endurance championships. This would accelerate the

R&D of existing alternative power sources.

Medium-term:

Transition to a zero emissions target in leading motorsport

series including Formula 1 and Word Endurance Championship to encourage

alternative fuel adoption within motorsport. Subsequent innovations could

then be harnessed by automotive manufacturers.

Automotive Challenge 4:

Building of consumer demand for sustainability

The accelerated adoption of alternative fuels in motorsport through the

initiatives discussed above would provide a platform for automotive

manufacturers to demonstrate the high-performance capabilities of their

alternatively fuelled vehicles.

Motorsport Opportunity:

Automotive manufacturers could leverage increased

use of alternative fuels in motorsport competition through marketing activity to

build consumer demand for sustainable fuel sources.

5.3 Population Growth & Resource scarcity

Automotive Challenges 5:

Reduction of resource usage throughout the full

life-cycle of automotive products

Reduction in the resource intensive nature of motorsport could be facilitated by

a holistic approach to the management of resource usage within motorsport

teams.